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Networks are fundamental to the modelling of complex systems, systems composed of an incredibly large number of interacting parts. Applications are numerous, in neuroscience, epidemiology, but also in computer science and engineering. A collaboration between the University of Catania (Italy) and the University of Namur, led by Professor Timoteo Carletti of the Department of Mathematics (naXys Institute), has developed a new formalism that allows the modelling of systems where several parts interact at the same time (multi-body) and in an asymmetric way. This research has been published in the prestigious journal Communication Physics, part of the Nature group.

When a tumour develops in an organism, it is very common for the cancer cells to leave the tumour and move to another organ where they proliferate, creating what are known as metastases. This process is an important factor in mortality, as it means that the disease worsens. Hence the interest in better understanding what happens during this phenomenon. This is what the multidisciplinary team of Carine Michiels, researcher at the NARILIS Institute of UNamur, and Davide Bonifazi, researcher at the University of Vienna, did in the framework of the PACMAN research project financed by the FNRS. The results of this study are published in the journal Neoplasia.

From 17 April 2023, UNamur will host two prestigious international Francqui Chairs. Professor Timoteo Carletti (Department of Mathematics - naXys Institute) will host Professor Ginestra Bianconi, one of the leading experts on networks and high-order structures. Professor Romain Houssa (Faculty of Economics, Social Sciences and Management - DeFiPP Institute) will welcome Professor Karel Mertens, an expert in macroeconomics.

A team of microbiology researchers from UNamur has just published in the journal Nature Communications. The work focuses on the Brucella bacterium that causes Brucellosis, a disease that infects livestock and can be transmitted to humans. This research aims to better understand the molecular mechanisms of the bacterium's growth in order to better combat it.

On 9 June 2023, the NISM and naXys Institutes, the Physics and Chemistry Departments and the Namur Research College were delighted to welcome Prof. Jean-Luc Brédas from the University of Arizona. A prestigious speaker of international renown, Prof. Brédas completed his doctoral thesis with Prof. Jean-Marie André at the University of Namur.

The European Euclid satellite will be launched into space from Cape Canaveral in the United States at 5.11pm on Saturday 1 July. The telescope is intended to provide a more accurate map of billions of galaxies over a distance of around twelve billion light years. A team of Belgian scientists and engineers from UCLouvain, ULB, ULg, UNamur and Ghent University, as well as the Space center in Liège (CSL), took part in this ten-year project, bringing together more than 3,500 people from 21 countries.

EMBO Courses and Workshops are selected for their excellent scientific quality and timelines, provision of good networking activities for all participants and speaker gender diversity (at least 40% of speakers must be from the underrepresented gender). Organisers are encouraged to implement measures to make the meeting environmentally more sustainable.Upon registration - More info and registration on the EMBO website.

Researchers from UNamur's Departments of Biology and Physics have conducted a scientific experiment to assess the radioresistance of the common black ant Lasius niger. The results of their work have just been published in the Belgian scientific journal Belgian Journal of Zoology. The Namur-based scientists demonstrate a level of resistance far superior to that of humans. Their spontaneous approach also demonstrates a lesser-known approach to scientific research.

At a time when bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a public health problem, Professor Stéphane Vincent's team is currently developing dynamic constitutional frameworks (Dynamic Constitutional Frameworks, DCF): a molecular system that would be able to break down certain resistances and thus deliver antibiotics as close as possible to pathogens.

South America is a subcontinent rich in natural and cultural resources. Between biodiversity preservation and development cooperation, UNamur maintains valuable partnerships to address the challenges of biodiversity loss and understand current socio-economic transformations. Immersion in Ecuador and Peru. 

A team of American researchers, with the help of Frédérik De Laender, professor in the Department of Biology at UNamur, has just published in the prestigious journal Nature. Their study describes how changing stream temperatures and human introductions of fish can alter river biodiversity in the USA.

Since September 2023, Marc Hennequart, Professor of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at UNamur, has been conducting groundbreaking research into pancreatic cancer. His team, based at the Faculty of Medicine and the Institut Narilis, studies the early stages of oncogenesis (the process of transforming a normal cell into a cancerous one) to better understand the metabolic changes behind this particularly aggressive cancer.